Blue Jeans (song)
|DS = |album = Born to Die |previous = "Off to the Races" |next = "Video Games" |released = April 8, 2012}} "Blue Jeans" is a song written by Lana Del Rey, Emile Haynie, and Dan Heath and produced by Haynie in 2011. Taken from Del Rey's first major-label album Born to Die, the song served as the album's third single worldwide. It was officially released as a single on April 8, 2012. Background The song was written by Del Rey, Haynie, and Heath in the same sessions as "Video Games" and was originally released with the song as a B-side on October 7, 2011 before being released individually as the third single from Born to Die. But before "Blue Jeans" was officially released as an B-side to "Video Games", Del Rey uploaded the original music video for the song onto her personal YouTube channel, on September 11, 2011. Lyrically, it tells a story similar to the narrative in "Dear Elliot", a song from Del Rey's unreleased acoustic first album Sirens. Composition Musically, "Blue Jeans" is an down-tempo pop-ballad song with an alternative hip-hop beat and highly orchestrated instrumentation. It is composed in the key of F Minor with Del Rey's vocals ranging from F3 to F5. According to Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian, the composition of the song is "powerfully atmospheric". The song focuses on use of the repeated chorus, which highlights a fragility in Del Rey's voice, and the polarizing hip-hop influenced beat which contrasts the lyrical and vocal content. The song contains heavy use of male background vocals, much like in "Born to Die", and includes coo-like background vocals from Del Rey herself. It samples a spoken line from a live performance of "Mary Jane" by Rick James, also heard in "National Anthem", "Lolita", "Dark Paradise" and "Without You". The instrumental is primarily composed of simple string instruments, guitar, and percussion. The combination of hip-hop and chamber pop featured in the song has become a continuous theme in Del Rey's music. Critical reception Slant Magazine said that Del Rey "uses her impressive range to dazzling effect on, "Blue Jeans", comparing her delinquent lover to both cancer and her favorite sweater in what seems like one swooning breath".http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/lana-del-rey-born-to-die/2720 NME said that "Blue Jeans' lush Chris Isaakshades shimmer like sea-spume on Helena Christensen’s naked thighs as Del Rey longs for her James Dean".http://www.nme.com/reviews/lana-del-rey/12692 Sputnikmusic stated that it's reminiscent of the music in Quentin Tarantino's films and named it one of the best song on the album.http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/47721/Lana-Del-Rey-Born-to-Die/ Beats Per Minute said that “Blue Jeans would probably be described by Del Rey as “gangsta spaghetti western,” but, aside from its most basic of forced rhymes (“‘Cause I’mma ride or die / Whether you fail or fly / Well shit at least you tried”), it is still a clever spin on genre, sounding unique, even inspired".http://beatsperminute.com/reviews/album-review-lana-del-rey-born-to-die/ DOA magazine said that "The lyrics-centric story-telling “Blue Jeans” slows it down a bit with a deliberate, but swinging beat as Lana delves into a relationship where the guy is a “Big dreams / gangsta…” and the girl wants him to stop living that lifestyle. Midway into the song the pace speeds up and Lana crams in a lot of lyrics, keeping the rhymes tight and the emotions high, until it dissipates into a dreamy chorus with Lana proclaiming “I will love you till the end of time".http://www.adequacy.net/2012/02/lana-del-rey-born-to-die/ No Ripcord said that "Just like in the dark ballad Blue Jeans, Del Rey sounds more comfortable when she tries to perform as a tough songstress".http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/lana-del-rey/born-die Music OMH said that "Video Games and Blue Jeans, despite suffering Adele style levels of ubiquity in recent months, still sound achingly beautiful, both of them sounding like the saddest love songs ever written".http://www.musicomh.com/albums/lana-del-rey_0112.htm Consequence of Sound said that “Blue Jeans and “Video Games” inextricably link Del Rey’s flaxen locks with starry-eyed classical instruments, providing the aural and visual irresistibility of a good montage".http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/01/album-review-lana-del-rey-born-to-die/ Use in popular culture *The song was used in an episode of the CW show, Ringer, "It's Easy to Cry When This Much Cash Is Involved". It is often highlighted as a proponent to the launch of Del Rey's career. *The instrumental version of the song is used in both a Nespresso commercial and a University of Phoenix commercial. Cross-references *The song tells the same story as "Dear Elliot". *The title of the song is mentioned directly in "I Don't Wanna Go". *The song is part of a trilogy involving "Video Games" and "Born to Die". *"Chasing paper" is mentioned in "Making Out", "Daytona Meth", and "Ridin'". Music video(s) Original music video(s) Background The song was released as a double-A side with "Video Games", which had received a video treatment with Del Rey's previous style of combining webcam clips and older film bits. Stranger Records, who released the single, also asked Del Rey to film a video for Blue Jeans in a similar fashion. Description Del Rey shot this version of "Blue Jeans" on July 22, 2011 in concurrence with the various Born to Die promotional photoshoots and album photoshoot done with Nicole Nodland. The clips of Lana were shot in Miami, Florida. The clips used show places such as Las Vegas, Nevada and San Francisco, California. The video was posted September 9, 2011. The video contains various shots of Del Rey in multiple outfits, interlaced with her traditional film noir clips. The second version is similar to the first one but with extremely few changes, almost unnoticeable. Also, it is slightly shorter. Official music video Background Upon official release of "Blue Jeans" as a single, Interscope commissioned Yoann Lemoine, who had previously directed the video for "Born to Die" to shoot a new video for the song. A second version of the video that is slightly shorter and has less special effects surfaced online. Description The video completes the "K" trilogy, starting with "Video Games" and "Born to Die''". The video was shot completely in black & white, and remains the only video of Del Rey's to be so. The video was shot in March, 2012. It was leaked 3 days before it was officially released, slightly edited, on March 16, 2012. The official version premiered on March 19, 2012. Official versions *Album version – 3:30 *"Video Games"/"Blue Jeans" single version – 3:31 *Remastered version – 3:34 *Unmastered version – 3:45 *Radio edit – 3:52 *Demo version – 2:14 *Original video version – 3:58 *Second video version with string introduction – 4:21 Lyrics Album version Demo version Commercial release "Blue Jeans" was originally released as the B-side on Del Rey's first single ,"Video Games". Please look at its article for the releases it was included on. Physical releases United Kingdom (BLUEJ02) (Promotional) United Kingdom (Promotional) United Kingdom (3700310) France (371 080-6) France (371 080-7) ;Side A ;Side B (33RPM) Digital releases Worldwide (Promotional) Worldwide (Promotional) United Kingdom (Promotional) Worldwide (Promotional) Remixes *Alpines Remix 4:04 *Blood Orange Remix 3:31 *Club Clique 'Nothing Is Real' Remix 4:11 *D/R/U/G/S Remix 4:29 *Gesaffelstein Remix 4:35 *Kris Menace Remix 6:41 *Maribou State Remix 5:20 *MK Dark Blue Dub 6:17 *Moonlight Matters Remix 6:22 *Odd Future's the Internet Mix 4:00 *Omid 16B Remix 6:32 *Omid 16B Dub 4:15 *Omid 16B Club Mix 7:56 *Omid 16B Club Reprise 4:13 *Penguin Prison Remix 5:37 *RAC Mix 3:38 *Smims & Belle Remix (feat. Azealia Banks) 3:01 Credits '''Personnel' *Keyboards — Emile Haynie *Guitar — Emile Haynie *Drums — Emile Haynie *Strings arrangment and conducting — Dan Heath *Mixing — Dan grech Marguerat for 365 Artists *Assistant mixing — Duncan Fuller Charts and certifications Certifications {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" !Region !Certification !Sales/shipments |- |Canada (Music Canada)http://musiccanada.com/gold-platinum/?fwp_gp_search=%22Blue+Jeans%22%20%22Lana+Del+Rey%22 |Gold |40,000^ |- |Italy (FIMI)http://www.fimi.it/certificazioni/ |Gold |15,000* |- |United Kingdom (BPI) |Silver |200,000 References Category:Born to Die music videos Category:Born to Die singles Category:Born to Die songs Category:Born to Die Tour songs Category:Endless Summer Tour songs Category:Festival Tour songs Category:Music videos Category:Paradise Tour songs Category:Singles Category:Released songs Category:Lana Del Rey (EP) songs